IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (12th - 18th OCTOBER 1920)
This week's stories include the launch of a campaign to elect the first female councillor in St Helens, the police battle with two brothers in Pocket Nook (and I mean battle!), the Thatto Heath shopkeeper who sold cigarettes to a 7-year-old and how a scratch on a hand down a Parr pit caused a carpenter's death.
We first came across the close-knit Gaffey brothers in July. That was when Luke Gaffey from Park Street in Bryn walked into St Helens Police Station demanding that his brother Tom – who had been arrested for fighting – be released. Upon being told by the police that Tom could not be set free, Luke Gaffey said to Sgt Lomas: "If you are going to put him inside, I'm going as well." He refused to leave the station and so the sergeant obliged Gaffey by sticking him in the cells with his brother!
The pair was back in the news this week after appearing in St Helens Police Court on the 12th. During the previous evening PC Hinchcliffe had found the brothers lying drunk in the road in Pocket Nook. He helped the pair to their feet and gave them an opportunity to go home but, instead, Luke Gaffey started swearing at the officer. PC Hinchcliffe wasn't standing for that and so he took the man into custody. However he didn't get very far in taking him to the station, as after just a few yards his prisoner turned round and punched him in the face.
Luke's brother Tom Gaffey then rushed at the constable but PC Hinchcliffe managed to get both inebriated men to the ground – and sat on them! The constable furiously blew his whistle but it took twenty minutes for PC Alsop to come to his assistance. By that time PC Hinchcliffe had got into a state of collapse after the two brothers had kicked out at him and scratched his face, egged on by a large crowd. In the melee Thomas Gaffey managed to get away but the two constables were able to handcuff his brother Luke and they resumed the hazardous walk to the station at the Town Hall.
However when they got near Barber Street, Thomas Gaffey suddenly reappeared and struck PC Alsop in the face. Constable Hinchcliffe appealed for some of the watching crowd to get help but they all refused, with one person accusing the police of being worse than the so-called "Black and Tans" in Ireland. The Gaffey brothers were described in court as "fighting like a couple of madmen" and eventually the crowd managed to spirit the brothers away from the police.
Police boxes and public telephone kiosks were still a few years off. So the two constables banged on the door of the Higher Parr Street Post Office in order to use their phone to summon help. Inspector Bowden and a number of constables soon arrived on the scene and found two exhausted officers and a crowd of 200 on the street. The inspector went in search of the Gaffey brothers and found them hiding in a passage off Pocket Nook Street, with Thomas Gaffey trying to get the handcuffs off Luke. It took twelve police officers to get the two men to the police station, with some members of the crowd violently attempting to free them.
Luke Gaffey alleged in court that the police had beaten him "black and blue" in the cells but the pair had lengthy criminal records. His brother Thomas from Liverpool Road had the longest list of convictions with 26 in St Helens and 28 in courts elsewhere. The prosecutor in the case drew the magistrates' attention to the number of serious assaults on the police that had recently taken place in St Helens and called for something to be done. The response of the Bench was to sentence both of the Gaffey brothers to two months hard labour.
Catherine Harrison was another person who proved quite a handful for the police. The woman from Bramwell Street in Parr appeared in the Police Court charged with being drunk and disorderly. PC Reynolds told the Bench that Harrison had behaved in a "disgraceful manner" in Hamer Street during the previous evening. She had smashed a bottle on the pavement and was very disorderly on the way to the police station. It had taken four or five constables to put the woman into a cell and she kept everyone awake all night singing and shouting. Catherine Harrison was ordered to pay £1 or if in default serve 28 days in prison.
James Lawrenson was fined ten shillings for being drunk and disorderly in Ormskirk Street. When spoken to by a police officer, he replied: "All right, cocky."
During the evening of the 12th Evelyn Pilkington held a meeting at St Thomas School in Peter Street to launch her campaign to become the first female councillor in St Helens. Miss Pilkington of Rainford Hall in Crank (pictured above) was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Richard Pilkington and earlier in the year had become one of the first female magistrates in the town.
The schoolroom was described as being "crowded to its uttermost" and the chairman of the meeting, Alderman John Phythian, described the: "…growing importance of woman's place in public administration and the new laws governing the country which made it so essential that women should have a place and a voice on public bodies." Miss Pilkington told the meeting that she was aware of opposition from some men to women becoming members of the Town Council. However she hoped that by the election day on November 1st she would have been able to convince many of the doubters of the "need and good" in having female councillors.
On the 15th Ellen Roberts of Whittle Street in Thatto Heath was charged in the Police Court with selling cigarettes to a person under the age of sixteen. A constable had seen a small boy coming out of the woman's shop with a packet of cigarettes in his hand. The officer took the lad back to the shop and Mrs Roberts admitted selling them. However when asked if she thought the boy was old enough to buy cigarettes, she replied that she did not know when he had been born. The boy turned out to be only seven and Mrs Roberts was fined 20 shillings.
With only 6% of British homes connected to the electricity network in 1920, there was, in theory, a huge potential market for new customers. However electricity was expensive and keeping just five bulbs going for one day was said to cost a week's wages for the average user. So the main demand for electricity came from the better off, which is why 1920s adverts from the Electric Lamp Manufacturers' Association of Great Britain said:
"Electricity transforms the most ordinary house into an exceedingly comfortable and convenient home in which the servant problem is in a great measure solved by a general reduction of housework and a complete elimination of drudgery." The servant problem was not something that worried the poor folk of St Helens all that much!
Landlords also did not want to pay the hefty installation and wiring charges for their tenants' homes. So in reality the market for new customers in the short-term was much smaller than it appeared. That said the number of new homes in St Helens that were going electric was increasing each year with Thomas Twist and John Varley & Co the two leading contractors. Both firms were advertising in the St Helens Reporter on the 15th with Twists – who made use of premises in Cambridge Road and Carnegie Street in Sutton – saying:
"Illuminate your home, office, shop or works on the latest scientific methods. Every description of electrical apparatus installed. Churches and public halls a speciality." Not that there were many electrical appliances on the domestic market and so the focus of advertising was mainly on lighting rather than power. The much bigger firm of John Varley of Waterloo Street claimed labour and expense would be saved by the installation of electric light and power.
On the 16th a smoking concert took place at the Springfield Hotel in Thatto Heath. Among the entertainers was Oswald Bennison, who the Reporter said: "…baffled the audience by his clever conjuring feats and card tricks, earning for himself time after time well-merited rounds of applause."
Before the introduction of antibiotics, deaths from blood poisoning or sepses – as it is more commonly known today – were much more common. On the 18th an inquest was held at the Wagon and Horses in Haydock into the death of Joseph Phythian from Berry's Lane. The 64-year-old had been a carpenter at Havannah Colliery in Parr, where he had worked for twenty years.
At midnight on October 1st Joseph had been called out to repair a wire bell-rope at the mine. When he returned home he told his wife that he had scratched his left hand on the wire. On the 3rd Mrs Phythian removed a small wire splinter from Joseph's hand and three days later he was taken to hospital. However his condition worsened and Joseph died ten days later. The Coroner ruled misadventure, stating that the deceased had died from blood poisoning that had been caused by the scratch.
Next week's stories will include the domestic servant's brainless theft in Cowley Hill Lane, a young woman's dreadful accident at St Helens Station, the battling Sinn Feiner in Corporation Street and the grand reopening of the Hippodrome Music Hall.
We first came across the close-knit Gaffey brothers in July. That was when Luke Gaffey from Park Street in Bryn walked into St Helens Police Station demanding that his brother Tom – who had been arrested for fighting – be released. Upon being told by the police that Tom could not be set free, Luke Gaffey said to Sgt Lomas: "If you are going to put him inside, I'm going as well." He refused to leave the station and so the sergeant obliged Gaffey by sticking him in the cells with his brother!
The pair was back in the news this week after appearing in St Helens Police Court on the 12th. During the previous evening PC Hinchcliffe had found the brothers lying drunk in the road in Pocket Nook. He helped the pair to their feet and gave them an opportunity to go home but, instead, Luke Gaffey started swearing at the officer. PC Hinchcliffe wasn't standing for that and so he took the man into custody. However he didn't get very far in taking him to the station, as after just a few yards his prisoner turned round and punched him in the face.
Luke's brother Tom Gaffey then rushed at the constable but PC Hinchcliffe managed to get both inebriated men to the ground – and sat on them! The constable furiously blew his whistle but it took twenty minutes for PC Alsop to come to his assistance. By that time PC Hinchcliffe had got into a state of collapse after the two brothers had kicked out at him and scratched his face, egged on by a large crowd. In the melee Thomas Gaffey managed to get away but the two constables were able to handcuff his brother Luke and they resumed the hazardous walk to the station at the Town Hall.
However when they got near Barber Street, Thomas Gaffey suddenly reappeared and struck PC Alsop in the face. Constable Hinchcliffe appealed for some of the watching crowd to get help but they all refused, with one person accusing the police of being worse than the so-called "Black and Tans" in Ireland. The Gaffey brothers were described in court as "fighting like a couple of madmen" and eventually the crowd managed to spirit the brothers away from the police.
Police boxes and public telephone kiosks were still a few years off. So the two constables banged on the door of the Higher Parr Street Post Office in order to use their phone to summon help. Inspector Bowden and a number of constables soon arrived on the scene and found two exhausted officers and a crowd of 200 on the street. The inspector went in search of the Gaffey brothers and found them hiding in a passage off Pocket Nook Street, with Thomas Gaffey trying to get the handcuffs off Luke. It took twelve police officers to get the two men to the police station, with some members of the crowd violently attempting to free them.
Luke Gaffey alleged in court that the police had beaten him "black and blue" in the cells but the pair had lengthy criminal records. His brother Thomas from Liverpool Road had the longest list of convictions with 26 in St Helens and 28 in courts elsewhere. The prosecutor in the case drew the magistrates' attention to the number of serious assaults on the police that had recently taken place in St Helens and called for something to be done. The response of the Bench was to sentence both of the Gaffey brothers to two months hard labour.
Catherine Harrison was another person who proved quite a handful for the police. The woman from Bramwell Street in Parr appeared in the Police Court charged with being drunk and disorderly. PC Reynolds told the Bench that Harrison had behaved in a "disgraceful manner" in Hamer Street during the previous evening. She had smashed a bottle on the pavement and was very disorderly on the way to the police station. It had taken four or five constables to put the woman into a cell and she kept everyone awake all night singing and shouting. Catherine Harrison was ordered to pay £1 or if in default serve 28 days in prison.
James Lawrenson was fined ten shillings for being drunk and disorderly in Ormskirk Street. When spoken to by a police officer, he replied: "All right, cocky."
The schoolroom was described as being "crowded to its uttermost" and the chairman of the meeting, Alderman John Phythian, described the: "…growing importance of woman's place in public administration and the new laws governing the country which made it so essential that women should have a place and a voice on public bodies." Miss Pilkington told the meeting that she was aware of opposition from some men to women becoming members of the Town Council. However she hoped that by the election day on November 1st she would have been able to convince many of the doubters of the "need and good" in having female councillors.
On the 15th Ellen Roberts of Whittle Street in Thatto Heath was charged in the Police Court with selling cigarettes to a person under the age of sixteen. A constable had seen a small boy coming out of the woman's shop with a packet of cigarettes in his hand. The officer took the lad back to the shop and Mrs Roberts admitted selling them. However when asked if she thought the boy was old enough to buy cigarettes, she replied that she did not know when he had been born. The boy turned out to be only seven and Mrs Roberts was fined 20 shillings.
With only 6% of British homes connected to the electricity network in 1920, there was, in theory, a huge potential market for new customers. However electricity was expensive and keeping just five bulbs going for one day was said to cost a week's wages for the average user. So the main demand for electricity came from the better off, which is why 1920s adverts from the Electric Lamp Manufacturers' Association of Great Britain said:
"Electricity transforms the most ordinary house into an exceedingly comfortable and convenient home in which the servant problem is in a great measure solved by a general reduction of housework and a complete elimination of drudgery." The servant problem was not something that worried the poor folk of St Helens all that much!
Landlords also did not want to pay the hefty installation and wiring charges for their tenants' homes. So in reality the market for new customers in the short-term was much smaller than it appeared. That said the number of new homes in St Helens that were going electric was increasing each year with Thomas Twist and John Varley & Co the two leading contractors. Both firms were advertising in the St Helens Reporter on the 15th with Twists – who made use of premises in Cambridge Road and Carnegie Street in Sutton – saying:
"Illuminate your home, office, shop or works on the latest scientific methods. Every description of electrical apparatus installed. Churches and public halls a speciality." Not that there were many electrical appliances on the domestic market and so the focus of advertising was mainly on lighting rather than power. The much bigger firm of John Varley of Waterloo Street claimed labour and expense would be saved by the installation of electric light and power.
Before the introduction of antibiotics, deaths from blood poisoning or sepses – as it is more commonly known today – were much more common. On the 18th an inquest was held at the Wagon and Horses in Haydock into the death of Joseph Phythian from Berry's Lane. The 64-year-old had been a carpenter at Havannah Colliery in Parr, where he had worked for twenty years.
At midnight on October 1st Joseph had been called out to repair a wire bell-rope at the mine. When he returned home he told his wife that he had scratched his left hand on the wire. On the 3rd Mrs Phythian removed a small wire splinter from Joseph's hand and three days later he was taken to hospital. However his condition worsened and Joseph died ten days later. The Coroner ruled misadventure, stating that the deceased had died from blood poisoning that had been caused by the scratch.
Next week's stories will include the domestic servant's brainless theft in Cowley Hill Lane, a young woman's dreadful accident at St Helens Station, the battling Sinn Feiner in Corporation Street and the grand reopening of the Hippodrome Music Hall.
This week's stories include the launch of a campaign to elect the first female councillor in St Helens, the police battle with two brothers in Pocket Nook (and I mean battle!), the Thatto Heath shopkeeper who sold cigarettes to a 7-year-old and how a scratch on a hand down a Parr pit caused a carpenter's death.
We first came across the close-knit Gaffey brothers in July 1920.
That was when Luke Gaffey from Park Street in Bryn walked into St Helens Police Station demanding that his brother Tom – who had been arrested for fighting – be released.
Upon being told by the police that Tom could not be set free, Luke Gaffey said to Sgt Lomas: "If you are going to put him inside, I'm going as well."
He refused to leave the station and so the sergeant obliged Gaffey by sticking him in the cells with his brother!
The pair was back in the news this week after appearing in St Helens Police Court on the 12th.
During the previous evening PC Hinchcliffe had found the brothers lying drunk in the road in Pocket Nook.
He helped the pair to their feet and gave them an opportunity to go home but, instead, Luke Gaffey started swearing at the officer.
PC Hinchcliffe wasn't standing for that and so he took the man into custody.
However he didn't get very far in taking him to the station, as after just a few yards his prisoner turned round and punched him in the face.
Luke's brother Tom Gaffey then rushed at the constable but PC Hinchcliffe managed to get both inebriated men to the ground – and sat on them!
The constable furiously blew his whistle but it took twenty minutes for PC Alsop to come to his assistance.
By that time PC Hinchcliffe had got into a state of collapse after the two brothers had kicked out at him and scratched his face, egged on by a large crowd.
In the melee Thomas Gaffey managed to get away but the two constables were able to handcuff his brother Luke and they resumed the hazardous walk to the station at the Town Hall.
However when they got near Barber Street, Thomas Gaffey suddenly reappeared and struck PC Alsop in the face.
Constable Hinchcliffe appealed for some of the watching crowd to get help but they all refused, with one person accusing the police of being worse than the so-called "Black and Tans" in Ireland.
The Gaffey brothers were described in court as "fighting like a couple of madmen" and eventually the crowd managed to spirit the brothers away from the police.
Police boxes and public telephone kiosks were still a few years off. So the two constables banged on the door of the Higher Parr Street Post Office in order to use their phone to summon help.
Inspector Bowden and a number of constables soon arrived on the scene and found two exhausted officers and a crowd of 200 on the street.
The inspector went in search of the Gaffey brothers and found them hiding in a passage off Pocket Nook Street, with Thomas Gaffey trying to get the handcuffs off Luke.
It took twelve police officers to get the two men to the police station, with some members of the crowd violently attempting to free them.
Luke Gaffey alleged in court that the police had beaten him "black and blue" in the cells but the pair had lengthy criminal records.
His brother Thomas from Liverpool Road had the longest list of convictions with 26 in St Helens and 28 in courts elsewhere.
The prosecutor in the case drew the magistrates' attention to the number of serious assaults on the police that had recently taken place in St Helens and called for something to be done.
The response of the Bench was to sentence both of the Gaffey brothers to two months hard labour.
Catherine Harrison was another person who proved quite a handful for the police.
The woman from Bramwell Street in Parr appeared in the Police Court charged with being drunk and disorderly.
PC Reynolds told the Bench that Harrison had behaved in a "disgraceful manner" in Hamer Street during the previous evening.
She had smashed a bottle on the pavement and was very disorderly on the way to the police station.
It had taken four or five constables to put the woman into a cell and she kept everyone awake all night singing and shouting.
Catherine Harrison was ordered to pay £1 or if in default serve 28 days in prison.
James Lawrenson was fined ten shillings for being drunk and disorderly in Ormskirk Street. When spoken to by a police officer, he replied: "All right, cocky."
During the evening of the 12th Evelyn Pilkington held a meeting at St Thomas School in Peter Street to launch her campaign to become the first female councillor in St Helens.
Miss Pilkington of Rainford Hall in Crank (pictured above) was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Richard Pilkington and earlier in the year had become one of the first female magistrates in the town.
The schoolroom was described as being "crowded to its uttermost" and the chairman of the meeting, Alderman John Phythian, described the:
"…growing importance of woman's place in public administration and the new laws governing the country which made it so essential that women should have a place and a voice on public bodies."
Miss Pilkington told the meeting that she was aware of opposition from some men to women becoming members of the Town Council.
However she hoped that by the election day on November 1st she would have been able to convince many of the doubters of the "need and good" in having female councillors.
On the 15th Ellen Roberts of Whittle Street in Thatto Heath was charged in the Police Court with selling cigarettes to a person under the age of sixteen.
A constable had seen a small boy coming out of the woman's shop with a packet of cigarettes in his hand.
The officer took the lad back to the shop and Mrs Roberts admitted selling them.
However when asked if she thought the boy was old enough to buy cigarettes, she replied that she did not know when he had been born.
The boy turned out to be only seven and Mrs Roberts was fined 20 shillings.
With only 6% of British homes connected to the electricity network in 1920, there was, in theory, a huge potential market for new customers.
However electricity was expensive and keeping just five bulbs going for one day was said to cost a week's wages for the average user.
So the main demand for electricity came from the better off, which is why 1920s adverts from the Electric Lamp Manufacturers' Association of Great Britain said:
"Electricity transforms the most ordinary house into an exceedingly comfortable and convenient home in which the servant problem is in a great measure solved by a general reduction of housework and a complete elimination of drudgery."
The servant problem was not something that worried the poor folk of St Helens all that much!
Landlords also did not want to pay the hefty installation and wiring charges for their tenants' homes.
So in reality the market for new customers in the short-term was much smaller than it appeared.
That said the number of new homes in St Helens that were going electric was increasing each year with Thomas Twist and John Varley & Co the two leading contractors.
Both firms were advertising in the St Helens Reporter on the 15th with Twists – who made use of premises in Cambridge Road and Carnegie Street in Sutton – saying:
"Illuminate your home, office, shop or works on the latest scientific methods. Every description of electrical apparatus installed. Churches and public halls a speciality."
Not that there were many electrical appliances on the domestic market and so the focus of advertising was mainly on lighting rather than power.
The much bigger firm of John Varley of Waterloo Street claimed labour and expense would be saved by the installation of electric light and power.
On the 16th a smoking concert took place at the Springfield Hotel in Thatto Heath.
Among the entertainers was Oswald Bennison, who the Reporter said: "…baffled the audience by his clever conjuring feats and card tricks, earning for himself time after time well-merited rounds of applause."
Before the introduction of antibiotics, deaths from blood poisoning or sepses – as it is more commonly known today – were much more common.
On the 18th an inquest was held at the Wagon and Horses in Haydock into the death of Joseph Phythian from Berry's Lane.
The 64-year-old had been a carpenter at Havannah Colliery in Parr, where he had worked for twenty years.
At midnight on October 1st Joseph had been called out to repair a wire bell-rope at the mine.
When he returned home he told his wife that he had scratched his left hand on the wire.
On the 3rd Mrs Phythian removed a small wire splinter from Joseph's hand and three days later he was taken to hospital.
However his condition worsened and Joseph died ten days later.
The Coroner ruled misadventure, stating that the deceased had died from blood poisoning that had been caused by the scratch.
Next week's stories will include the domestic servant's brainless theft in Cowley Hill Lane, a young woman's dreadful accident at St Helens Station, the battling Sinn Feiner in Corporation Street and the grand reopening of the Hippodrome Music Hall.
We first came across the close-knit Gaffey brothers in July 1920.
That was when Luke Gaffey from Park Street in Bryn walked into St Helens Police Station demanding that his brother Tom – who had been arrested for fighting – be released.
Upon being told by the police that Tom could not be set free, Luke Gaffey said to Sgt Lomas: "If you are going to put him inside, I'm going as well."
He refused to leave the station and so the sergeant obliged Gaffey by sticking him in the cells with his brother!
The pair was back in the news this week after appearing in St Helens Police Court on the 12th.
During the previous evening PC Hinchcliffe had found the brothers lying drunk in the road in Pocket Nook.
He helped the pair to their feet and gave them an opportunity to go home but, instead, Luke Gaffey started swearing at the officer.
PC Hinchcliffe wasn't standing for that and so he took the man into custody.
However he didn't get very far in taking him to the station, as after just a few yards his prisoner turned round and punched him in the face.
Luke's brother Tom Gaffey then rushed at the constable but PC Hinchcliffe managed to get both inebriated men to the ground – and sat on them!
The constable furiously blew his whistle but it took twenty minutes for PC Alsop to come to his assistance.
By that time PC Hinchcliffe had got into a state of collapse after the two brothers had kicked out at him and scratched his face, egged on by a large crowd.
In the melee Thomas Gaffey managed to get away but the two constables were able to handcuff his brother Luke and they resumed the hazardous walk to the station at the Town Hall.
However when they got near Barber Street, Thomas Gaffey suddenly reappeared and struck PC Alsop in the face.
Constable Hinchcliffe appealed for some of the watching crowd to get help but they all refused, with one person accusing the police of being worse than the so-called "Black and Tans" in Ireland.
The Gaffey brothers were described in court as "fighting like a couple of madmen" and eventually the crowd managed to spirit the brothers away from the police.
Police boxes and public telephone kiosks were still a few years off. So the two constables banged on the door of the Higher Parr Street Post Office in order to use their phone to summon help.
Inspector Bowden and a number of constables soon arrived on the scene and found two exhausted officers and a crowd of 200 on the street.
The inspector went in search of the Gaffey brothers and found them hiding in a passage off Pocket Nook Street, with Thomas Gaffey trying to get the handcuffs off Luke.
It took twelve police officers to get the two men to the police station, with some members of the crowd violently attempting to free them.
Luke Gaffey alleged in court that the police had beaten him "black and blue" in the cells but the pair had lengthy criminal records.
His brother Thomas from Liverpool Road had the longest list of convictions with 26 in St Helens and 28 in courts elsewhere.
The prosecutor in the case drew the magistrates' attention to the number of serious assaults on the police that had recently taken place in St Helens and called for something to be done.
The response of the Bench was to sentence both of the Gaffey brothers to two months hard labour.
Catherine Harrison was another person who proved quite a handful for the police.
The woman from Bramwell Street in Parr appeared in the Police Court charged with being drunk and disorderly.
PC Reynolds told the Bench that Harrison had behaved in a "disgraceful manner" in Hamer Street during the previous evening.
She had smashed a bottle on the pavement and was very disorderly on the way to the police station.
It had taken four or five constables to put the woman into a cell and she kept everyone awake all night singing and shouting.
Catherine Harrison was ordered to pay £1 or if in default serve 28 days in prison.
James Lawrenson was fined ten shillings for being drunk and disorderly in Ormskirk Street. When spoken to by a police officer, he replied: "All right, cocky."
Miss Pilkington of Rainford Hall in Crank (pictured above) was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Richard Pilkington and earlier in the year had become one of the first female magistrates in the town.
The schoolroom was described as being "crowded to its uttermost" and the chairman of the meeting, Alderman John Phythian, described the:
"…growing importance of woman's place in public administration and the new laws governing the country which made it so essential that women should have a place and a voice on public bodies."
Miss Pilkington told the meeting that she was aware of opposition from some men to women becoming members of the Town Council.
However she hoped that by the election day on November 1st she would have been able to convince many of the doubters of the "need and good" in having female councillors.
On the 15th Ellen Roberts of Whittle Street in Thatto Heath was charged in the Police Court with selling cigarettes to a person under the age of sixteen.
A constable had seen a small boy coming out of the woman's shop with a packet of cigarettes in his hand.
The officer took the lad back to the shop and Mrs Roberts admitted selling them.
However when asked if she thought the boy was old enough to buy cigarettes, she replied that she did not know when he had been born.
The boy turned out to be only seven and Mrs Roberts was fined 20 shillings.
With only 6% of British homes connected to the electricity network in 1920, there was, in theory, a huge potential market for new customers.
However electricity was expensive and keeping just five bulbs going for one day was said to cost a week's wages for the average user.
So the main demand for electricity came from the better off, which is why 1920s adverts from the Electric Lamp Manufacturers' Association of Great Britain said:
"Electricity transforms the most ordinary house into an exceedingly comfortable and convenient home in which the servant problem is in a great measure solved by a general reduction of housework and a complete elimination of drudgery."
The servant problem was not something that worried the poor folk of St Helens all that much!
Landlords also did not want to pay the hefty installation and wiring charges for their tenants' homes.
So in reality the market for new customers in the short-term was much smaller than it appeared.
That said the number of new homes in St Helens that were going electric was increasing each year with Thomas Twist and John Varley & Co the two leading contractors.
Both firms were advertising in the St Helens Reporter on the 15th with Twists – who made use of premises in Cambridge Road and Carnegie Street in Sutton – saying:
"Illuminate your home, office, shop or works on the latest scientific methods. Every description of electrical apparatus installed. Churches and public halls a speciality."
Not that there were many electrical appliances on the domestic market and so the focus of advertising was mainly on lighting rather than power.
The much bigger firm of John Varley of Waterloo Street claimed labour and expense would be saved by the installation of electric light and power.
Among the entertainers was Oswald Bennison, who the Reporter said: "…baffled the audience by his clever conjuring feats and card tricks, earning for himself time after time well-merited rounds of applause."
Before the introduction of antibiotics, deaths from blood poisoning or sepses – as it is more commonly known today – were much more common.
On the 18th an inquest was held at the Wagon and Horses in Haydock into the death of Joseph Phythian from Berry's Lane.
The 64-year-old had been a carpenter at Havannah Colliery in Parr, where he had worked for twenty years.
At midnight on October 1st Joseph had been called out to repair a wire bell-rope at the mine.
When he returned home he told his wife that he had scratched his left hand on the wire.
On the 3rd Mrs Phythian removed a small wire splinter from Joseph's hand and three days later he was taken to hospital.
However his condition worsened and Joseph died ten days later.
The Coroner ruled misadventure, stating that the deceased had died from blood poisoning that had been caused by the scratch.
Next week's stories will include the domestic servant's brainless theft in Cowley Hill Lane, a young woman's dreadful accident at St Helens Station, the battling Sinn Feiner in Corporation Street and the grand reopening of the Hippodrome Music Hall.